JPH05324779A - Design supporting device for manufacturing facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate erroneous design caused by the parts operation and parts sequence. CONSTITUTION:In the design supporting device for manufacturing facility producing products consisting of plural parts, plural parts are displayed on a display 17 which displays the specified contents of the display based on the CAD data of plural parts. The device is provided with a display contents designating means 11 operating the displayed parts according to the assembly operation and order of the relevant plural parts, assembly contents changing means 21 and 23 changing the assembly operation and the order of plural relevant parts, and a process designing means 12 making the procedure design of the manufacturing facility based on at least the production condition obtained by the input, CAD data, and the assembly operation and sequence.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a design support device for manufacturing equipment for manufacturing a product composed of a plurality of parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a design support device for manufacturing equipment, there is one described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-249235. This is the production quantity, investment amount,
It inputs production conditions such as dead time and outputs an appropriate configuration of manufacturing equipment.

[0003]

By the way, in such a conventional design support apparatus, no consideration is given to the assembly operation and assembly sequence of parts. However, the assembling operation and the assembling order of the parts are very important factors in the process design, and if they are incorrect, for example, the parts interfere with each other during the parts assembly, and the product cannot be actually manufactured. Sometimes equipment is designed.

Therefore, the present invention takes the above points into consideration,
An object of the present invention is to provide a design support device for a manufacturing facility, which can eliminate design errors due to part operation and part order.

[0005]

A design support apparatus for manufacturing equipment for achieving the above object displays a designated display content in a design support apparatus for manufacturing equipment for manufacturing a product composed of a plurality of parts. A plurality of parts displayed on the display means based on the display means and the CAD data of the plurality of parts, and the plurality of parts displayed according to the assembly operation and the assembly order of the specified plurality of the parts. Based on the production condition, the CAD data, the assembling operation and the assembling order obtained by the input, and the assembling operation changing means for changing the assembling operation and the assembling order of the plurality of parts. And a process design means for designing a process of the manufacturing facility.

[0006]

The display means displays a plurality of parts according to the CAD data according to the instruction from the display content instruction means.
When the assembly operation and assembly sequence of multiple parts are specified,
The display content instruction means instructs the display means to operate the plurality of displayed components according to the designated content. Upon receiving this instruction, the display means operates the displayed parts in accordance with the designated assembly order and assembly operation. The designer sees this and determines whether the assembly order and the assembly operation are appropriate, and if the assembly order and the assembly operation are not appropriate, the assembly content changing unit changes the assembly order and / or the assembly operation. If the assembling order and the assembling operation are appropriate, the process designing means, the assembling order and the assembling operation,
Use production conditions and CAD data to design the process of manufacturing equipment.

As long as it has a simulation means, the process design result created as described above is simulated, and if the simulation result is not what is intended, the contents of the process design can be changed. It is possible to design more appropriate manufacturing equipment. In particular, an equipment model in which a buffer of designated parts and / or products is set and which executes simulation can perform equipment design in consideration of physical distribution. In process design, it is important to understand the time required for various works, but if it is equipped with work time calculation means, it is possible to accurately grasp this, and a more complete equipment design. It can be performed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a design support system for manufacturing equipment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the support device for the manufacturing equipment of the present embodiment is a computer main unit 1
0, an external storage device (database) 15, a printer 16, a display device 17, a keyboard 21, a floppy disk device 22, and a mouse 23. As shown in FIG. 1, the computer main body 10 functionally includes a display content instruction unit 11 for instructing the display content of the display device 17, and a process design for designing the process of the manufacturing equipment based on various input data. And a simulation unit 13 that creates an equipment model based on the process design result by the process design unit 12 and simulates with this equipment model.
And have. It should be noted that the computer main body 10 is, in terms of hardware, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, similar to an ordinary computer.
Each of the functions described above has a ROM, a RAM,
This is achieved by the CPU operating in accordance with the program stored in the external storage device 15.

Next, the operation of the support system for the manufacturing equipment according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. In step 1, production conditions such as the target cycle time and the number of production models are input using the keyboard 21 and the like. The input production conditions are sent to the database 15 and stored there as a file.

In step 2, CAD data relating to the corresponding product is read from the database 15. This CA
The D data is acquired by the display content instruction unit 11 and the process design unit 12 of the computer main body 10. Here, in the CAD data, specifically, a part name, dimensions of each part of the part, weight,
It includes data such as material, finishing accuracy, assembly accuracy, and quantity of this part. The CAD data itself may be created by the computer main body 10 or by another CAD device. When CAD data is created by another CAD device, this data is read from the floppy disk device 22.

In step 3, the assembling performance evaluation symbol indicating the assembling operation of the parts and the assembling order are input using the keyboard 21 or the like. Then, the assembling operation and the assembling order of the parts are determined, and the working time is calculated. Here, the process design means designing a group of work including at least one of the assembling operations input to calculate the work time output in step 3. In step 4, process design is executed based on production conditions and the like. This is performed by referring to the file regarding the production conditions or the like that the process designing unit 12 has previously input from the database 15.

In step 5, it is judged whether or not there is another subassembly line for assembling the subassembly, which is an assembly of a plurality of parts. If not, proceed to the next step (step 6). In step 6, the simulator unit 13 creates an equipment model based on the designed process design result. In step 7, the simulator unit 13 simulates this equipment model, and in step 8, the result is output.

In step 9, the process design section 12 judges whether or not the conditions described later are met. If the conditions are met, the process design result is output from the printer 16 or the like in step 11 and the conditions are met. If not, step 10 prompts the designer to change the condition. The designer receives this and changes the condition using the keyboard 21 or the like. Upon receiving this condition change, the simulator unit 13 executes steps 6 to 8 again.

Next, each step will be described in detail. FIG. 4 shows the items of the production conditions input in step 1. Foreman in the figure means, for example, a worker who monitors the operating state of the machine on the assembly line or supplies parts. What is the component buffer size?
The amount of parts to be prepared for assembly, and the part transfer size is the amount when parts for assembly are transferred. The "name" here is the name of the assembly line and is used when the CAD data is accessed from the database 15 in step 2. The conditions of “conveyor speed”, “failure rate”, “failure recovery time”, “setup change time”, “production variation rate”, and “simulation time” are condition values that cannot be changed during the design execution of the assembly line in this embodiment. The "number of production models" can be automatically obtained by reading the CAD data in step 2, and therefore the designer does not necessarily have to input it. With respect to the conditions of “Foreman number”, “parts buffer size”, and “parts conveyance size”, optimum values are different for each station of the assembly line as the assembly line is designed. Here, the station is composed of a plurality of devices installed along the conveyor of the assembly line, and a group of these devices is called one station.
Therefore, the value input in step 1 is the default value (which may be automatically given in advance),
As the design is optimized, a unique value is determined for each station, and the final specifications are set. "Production quantity by model"
With the input of the value of "number of production models", as many columns as necessary are automatically provided for input. All these data are stored in the database 15 after being input by the designer.

FIG. 5 shows the details of step 2 in detail. In step 21, the data of the assembly drawing corresponding to the “name” input in step 1 is read from the CAD data file registered in the database 15, and the display device 17 displays the data according to the instruction of the display content instruction unit 11. Display as an image.

In step 22, similarly, the data of the parts table corresponding to the "name" is read, and the display device 17 displays it according to the instruction of the display content instruction section 11 as shown in FIG. The data relating to the parts table is the drawing number, the quantity of parts, the department, the weight of parts, and the like. When the quantity data is indicated by a combination of numbers and alphabetical symbols, this part is an assembly of a plurality of parts (hereinafter referred to as a subassembly. Also, as shown in FIG. 23,
An assembly line for assembling this subassembly is referred to as a subassembly line 51. Further, an assembly line for finally assembling parts or subassemblies is referred to as a total assembly line 50. The relationship between the total assembly line 50 and the divisional line 51 is like a river.
The tributary becomes the subassembly line 51, and the mainstream is the total assembly line 50.
Becomes ) Means.

The display of the drawing or the parts table is performed so that the designer can confirm whether the read information is intended by the designer.

FIG. 7 shows the total assembly line specification information obtained by reading the information of the parts table. In this embodiment, among the data of the parts table shown in FIG. 6, "part name", "quantity", and "weight".
Use the data of. In this embodiment, the data relating to the parts table is read, and when the quantity data is represented by numbers and alphabetical symbols, it is judged that this part is a subassembly, and assembly of the subassembly is completed. Assuming that there is an assembly line for, the following processing is executed. A subassembly is, in other words, a unit that fulfills one function of the products to be assembled. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the assembly line specification information is created, and the CAD data relating to the assembly drawing and the parts drawing of the assembly product is acquired through step 5 and again through steps 21 and 22. In addition, the assembly line specification information shown in FIG. 8 is generated by the number of assembly products.

FIG. 9 shows step 3 in detail. In step 31, as shown in FIG. 10, the drawing image of the assembly drawing, the total assembly line specification information, and the assemblyability evaluation symbol table are displayed on the screen of the display device 17. On this screen, three windows are provided, which are a drawing information display window 31 showing a drawing image of an assembly drawing, a line specification display window 35 showing total or division line specification information,
It is the assemblability evaluation symbol display window 38. In this embodiment, a window is provided on one screen to display information. However, a plurality of display devices are prepared, and a drawing image, an assemblability evaluation symbol table, a total set or a group is provided for each. The assembly line specification information may be displayed.

In step 32, the designer inputs the representative size of each part and the assembling operation of each sub-assembly using the assembling performance evaluation symbol. Here, the representative dimension is a dimension when the corresponding component is handled, and is the maximum value of the outer diameter dimension. The designer looks at the assembly drawing, reads the dimensions that match the representative dimensions, and inputs appropriate values. By observing the assembly drawing, the designer can understand which part is attached to which part and in what operation. Therefore, the operation for assembling is expressed by using the assembling property evaluation symbol as shown in FIG. 12, and is entered in the total assembling line specification information.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the assemblability evaluation symbol display window 38 displays an icon of the assemblability evaluation symbol. Therefore, the designer first operates the mouse 23 to move the arrow 34 in the display screen to specify the component in the drawing information display window 31. When a part is designated, the instructed part changes to a color different from that of the other parts, and the column of the corresponding part of the total assembly line specification display window 35 also changes to a different color from the surroundings. Next, the designer moves the arrow 34 to the assemblability evaluation symbol display window 38 and designates the icon of the assemblability assessment symbol corresponding to the assembling operation of the designated component by the arrow 34. Typical dimensions are keyboard 2
Enter using 1. In this way, when the assemblability evaluation symbol and the representative symbol are input, total assembly line specification information as shown in FIG. 13 is created.

At step 33, the working time is calculated from the inputted assemblability evaluation symbol, weight and representative dimension. Here, for each assemblability evaluation symbol, the time required to perform the work corresponding to the part having the reference weight and the representative dimension is preset as the reference work time. Generally, it is said that the time for performing an assembling operation of a component having an arbitrary weight and a representative dimension is proportional to the reference weight and the representative dimension. For example, the time required to perform a certain assembly work is TS, the reference weight is MS, and the reference representative dimension is L.
Assuming that the weight is S and the representative dimension is MC and LC respectively, the work time T for assembling this component is T
C can be expressed by the following equation. TC = TS.times.CW.times. (MC / MS) .times.CL.times. (LC / LS) In this formula, C is a correction coefficient and is given by the weight of the part and the absolute value of the representative dimension. When the calculation of the working time is completed using this formula, the working time is written in the total assembly line specification information as shown in FIG.

In step 34, the designer inputs the assembly order of parts or subassemblies. The information such as the parts read from the database 15 is not necessarily arranged in the order of assembling. Therefore, it is necessary for the worker to input the order in which the parts are assembled (simply called the order). On this occasion,
Since the drawing image of the displayed assembly drawing and the total assembly line information are displayed at the same time, the designer can easily analogize and input the assembly order of the parts. FIG. 15 shows the total assembly line specification information in which the order is input.

In step 35, the data are rearranged in the order input in step 34, as shown in FIG. In step 36, each part moves on the display screen according to the input assembly evaluation symbol and order. In order to move the parts, the icon "movement" in the assemblability evaluation symbol display window 38 is designated by the arrow 34. As a result, each component is displayed in the drawing information display window 31,
The designated assembly order shows the behavior according to the designated assembly property evaluation symbol.

In step 37, the designer confirms the behavior of each part on the display screen and, if the assembly operation is the intended one, designates "confirm" of the assemblability evaluation symbol display window 38 with the arrow 34. As a result, the assembling operation and order of each component is determined. On the other hand, if the behavior of each component is not the intended one, that is, if one component interferes with another component during the assembly operation, or if the product cannot be assembled in the current assembly sequence, Returning to step 32, the assembling operation and the assembling order are changed using the keyboard 21 and the mouse 23.

FIG. 17 shows the details of step 4 in detail. In step 41, 1 is given as an initial value to the variable j of the assembly order. The variable k of the assembly order in step 44 represents the starting number when assembling the assembling work of the total assembly line specification information shown in FIG. 16, and the variable j represents the ending number. When there is no work to put together (to put together is to realize a plurality of assembling operations in one station), that is, in one assembling operation, 1
When configuring one station, the values of the variable k and the variable j are the same. In step 42, the condition for ending the work is checked. This condition becomes true when the process design is completed for all the parts shown in FIG. 16, that is, when the variable j matches the number of parts to be assembled. In step 43, 1 is given to the variable counter. In step 44, the variable k is set to the value of the variable j. In step 45, it is true while the sum of the work times Ti is smaller than the target cycle time Td, so the process moves to step 46, and the work time Ti of the assembling operation to make the same station is added. In step 47, the values of the variable j and the variable k are compared, and if they are equal, the work time Ti of one assembling operation is calculated.
Thus, the target cycle time Td set in step 1 is longer than the target cycle time Td. In this case, in order to carry out production at the target cycle time, it is necessary to perform the corresponding work at a plurality of stations. Therefore, while the determination condition of step 410 is true, the process proceeds to step 49, and the value of the variable Counter is incremented. If step 410 is false, the corresponding assembly work is performed with the target cycle time Td.
This is the case when the number of stations to be performed in step is found.
r pieces will be provided.

FIG. 18 shows the total assembly line specification information at the time when step 4 is completed. In this example, the operations of sequences 1 and 2 are independent stations because each operation time is less than the target cycle time. Since the work time for the next "M4 screw" assembling work is longer than the target cycle time, 2 "M4 screw" assembling stations are required.
If one is provided, it means that it is good. It can be seen that if the next two "rods" and "plates A" are assembled into one station, the target cycle time is approached. Here, the station number is shown in the leftmost column of "St." in the figure. This result is the result of numerical optimization, but the designer sees this result and, depending on the intention of the designer, groups or divides the stations (division means a certain assembly operation). It is also possible to increase the number of stations performing the same work so that the corresponding work can be performed in a time shorter than the target cycle time.

FIG. 19 shows the details of step 6 in detail. In step 61, it is set that a buffer exists between the stations indicated in the total assembly line specification information. Next, in step 62, the existence of a buffer for parts to be assembled is set for each station. Step 6
In 3, the presence of a buffer for waiting for unloading to the component buffer of the total assembly line and an unloading waiting buffer is set at the end of the subassembly line. In the present embodiment, since the assembly work time at each station is calculated, it is possible to easily set the above-mentioned buffer by using these.

In steps 64 and 65, the distance between the parts buffer and the place where the parts are waiting to be carried out is set. Next, in step 66, the total assembly line specification information is translated according to the grammar of the simulation language to create a simulation model.

A simulation is executed with this model in step 7, and the result is output in step 8.
The result of this simulation is shown in FIG. FIG. 21 shows the final form of the total assembly line specification information. The designer
By simultaneously observing the simulation result shown in FIG. 20 and the final form of the total assembly line specification information shown in FIG. 21 on the screen of the display device 17, it is determined in step 9 whether the design result by the simulation is as intended. To do. If it does not match the intention, the value (that is, the inter-station buffer size, the component buffer size, the component transfer size, the Foreman number) of the final form of the total assembly line specification information in FIG. 19 is appropriately changed, the simulation is executed, and the condition is set. Fix until satisfied. The condition here, that is, the condition of step 9 is that the Foreman operation rate shown in FIG. 20 does not exceed 100%.

FIG. 23 is an example in which the final form of the total assembly line specification information is represented by a graphical image. As a result, the designer can confirm the overall layout of the total assembly line and the subassembly line, and also the combined state of both. Also, when the designer designates an arbitrary assembly station, the specifications of that station pop up.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
The assembly operation and assembly order of the input parts are actually executed on the display screen and the assembly operation and assembly order are confirmed. Therefore, process design should be performed based on the assembly operation and assembly order that can be reliably realized. You can Therefore, it is possible to eliminate a process design error due to an assembly operation or an assembly order error. In addition, information on all parts to be assembled is read from the CAD information, the assembly operation of parts is understood from this information, and each assembly operation is input through a graphical user interface. Since the working time is calculated and the standardized process is designed, it is possible to automatically execute the design of the assembly line specification in consideration of the accurate working time.

[0033]

According to the present invention, since a plurality of parts are displayed on the display screen and the plurality of displayed parts are operated in accordance with the specified assembling operation and assembling order, the assembling operation and the assembling operation are performed. It is possible to confirm the order, and it is possible to prevent a process design error due to the assembly operation and the assembly order.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a manufacturing facility design apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of a manufacturing equipment designing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the manufacturing equipment designing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing items of production conditions of one embodiment according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart detailing the processing contents of step 2 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing information about a parts table of one embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information in a state in which the information of the parts table is read in an example according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the assembly line specification information in a state where the information of the parts table is read in the embodiment according to the present invention.

9 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing contents of step 3 in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen during execution of an assembling operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an assembling property evaluation symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information in which representative dimensions and assemblability evaluation symbols of one embodiment according to the present invention are input.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information in which a working time according to an embodiment of the present invention is input.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information in which an assembly order according to an embodiment of the present invention is input.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information in which items are rearranged according to the assembly order of the embodiment according to the present invention.

17 is a flowchart detailing the processing contents of step 4 in FIG.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing total assembly line specification information at the time when step 4 in FIG. 3 ends.

19 is a detailed flowchart of the processing contents of step 6 in FIG.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a simulation result of an example according to the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a final form of total assembly line specification information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a final form of total assembly line specification information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a total assembly line and a subassembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Computer main body, 11 ... Display content instruction unit, 12 ... Process design unit, 13 ... Simulator unit, 15 ... External storage device (database), 16 ... Printer, 17 ... Display device,
21 ... Keyboard, 22 ... Floppy disk, 23 ...
mouse.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshijiro Ohashi 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Inside the Institute of Industrial Science, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Shoji Arimoto Yoshida, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 292, Machi Incorporated company Hitachi, Ltd., Production Technology Laboratory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A design support device for a manufacturing facility for manufacturing a product composed of a plurality of parts, wherein a plurality of the parts are displayed based on display means for displaying the instructed display content and CAD data of the plurality of parts. Is displayed on the display means, and display content instructing means for operating the displayed plurality of parts in accordance with the specified assembly operation and assembly order of the plurality of parts; Assembling content changing means for changing the assembling order, at least the production condition obtained by input, the CAD
And a process design means for designing a process of the manufacturing facility based on the data, the assembling operation, and the assembly sequence. 2. A design support device for a manufacturing facility for manufacturing a product composed of a plurality of parts, wherein a plurality of the parts are displayed based on display means for displaying an instructed display content and CAD data of the plurality of parts. Is displayed on the display means, and display content instructing means for operating the displayed plurality of parts in accordance with the specified assembly operation and assembly order of the plurality of parts; Assembling content changing means for changing the assembling order, at least the production condition obtained by input, the CAD
Based on the data, the assembling operation and the assembling order, a process design means for designing a process of the manufacturing equipment, and a simulation means for creating an equipment model according to a design result by the process design unit and executing a simulation with the equipment model. And a process design changing means for changing the process design, and a design support apparatus for a manufacturing facility. 3. The design support apparatus for manufacturing equipment according to claim 2, wherein the simulation means executes the simulation with an equipment model in which a buffer of a designated part and / or product is set. 4. The process design section is provided with a work time calculating means for calculating a work time required for the assembling operation from the weight of the parts obtained from the CAD data and the assembling operation. The design support apparatus for a manufacturing facility according to claim 1, 2, or 3.